Story Bucket
by nikkiru-san
Summary: Naruko stories I will eventually get to.


Naruko Uzumaki was four when she met Orochimaru. It had been during a chase from the Orphanage. The Matron had decided that she no longer needed care. That was… _fine_. Living in the Red Light wasn't all bad. A nice older lady, Jin, had taken her in. _"You know, Naruko…if you stay with me, you'll need to grow up pretty fast."_ She still didn't know what that meant, apart from the fact that Jin brought home a different man each night.

She didn't know what the men did there, but it made a lot of noise. Jin said she was an Entertainer, and Naruko would do well in the business soon enough. _"You're gonna be a real looker one day, Naru. Then we can make enough money to get out of here."_ Naruko didn't know why Jin wanted to leave either, but she would help any way she could.

Jin liked to send her out on errands. Everyday, she would blend into the crowd and take things from stores. She was hesitant to take things without paying, but Jin said it was okay. So it was. Jin never lied to her. There were these tiny lacy fabrics she would take for the woman. Sometimes, Naruko saw her in them. Jin was _really_ pretty. She liked to pull her green hair into a messy bun, and wear nice things for the men she brought home.

The men were usually older and bigger, and sometimes scary…but Jin would protect her. One time, this weird man came in. He had longer her than the blonde did, it was black and silky. His skin was white and his eyes were yellow. Naruko thought he looked _really_ cool. when he walked in and saw her, he even _talked to her_! To _her_! He was really nice.

He called her 'Naruko-chan' and always treated her like a person. He came in more times after that, not to be with Jin, but to be with her. Jin said she was proud of her for getting money, too! The man said his name was Orochimaru. He always brought things for her. One time, he gave her a necklace! It had a yellow pendant, just like his eyes.

Sometimes, when she held the pendant, the yellow would drain and her hand would tingle. But he always came back and seemed happy that it became white, so she kept holding it. She only trusted him and Jin, and both would never hurt her.

 _'Naruko-chan, I brought you something new!"_ Orochi-nii brought her a bracelet. When she first put it on, it felt like something sharp poked her wrist, but when she looked her hand was fine! But each time he brought her something, she felt stronger in a way.

When she turned five, Orochi-nii came to take her out. After talking with Jin, they decided she would be a super strong ninja! And he would train her! He brought Naruko to a wooden house in the forest, and he put a funny sharp thing in her wrist. _"Don't you worry, Naruko-chan! This is going to make you stronger!"_ And she felt stronger too!

Then he had taken her outside. _"I'll be right back, Naruko-chan. Stay put."_

All of a sudden, she _felt_ something malicious run towards her, and a big bear-man appeared. He had two face! One was porcelain white with a red swirl and it looked like a bear snarling, and the other was normal. She couldn't see his normal face, but she could sense it.

The bear-man threw something sharp at her tummy. She was scared that it would hurt, but then something inside of her pulsed and her abdomen felt lighter. The sharp thing went straight through her tummy, but nothing hurt. Nothing got hurt either. It was like it phased into nothing solid!

Later she learned she could Phase, and even though her tummy wouldn't disappear, things passed through it. Orochi-nii had said she was an incredible girl, and he would help her even more! He said the pointy thing was called a kunai, and ninja use them! He also said that she would be a good assassin.

Naruko didn't know what an assassin was either, but if Orochi-nii said she should do it then she would. He also taught her to throw kunai! _"Hold it like this, Naruko-chan, and then look at what you want to hit. See it? Now bend your arm behind you, and push it forwards. Good, kukuku, now try and hit the target."_ When she started throwing, she never hit the target. But she slowly got closer to it. Orochi-nii said it was just because of her age, and she would always have to practice as she grew.

Orochi-nii taught her body parts too! _"This is the jugular. If you are in danger, always throw at that. Okay?"_ He really seemed to care about her. But he couldn't always help her, because he had to work in the Lab. She wasn't allowed in the Lab, because it was too dangerous. He said that when she was older she could look.

The one thing she liked was that he always had something for her to do when he was gone. _"I'm going out, Naruko-chan…so how about you read this book on chakra?"_ The book on chakra was hard to read, but he always left someone to help her. Kabuto-kun always taught her new words, and helped her learn how to read.

Every Sunday she got to see Jin! Jin was almost always busy, but said that when Naruko became a ninja, they would finally have enough money to move. She always looked so happy when she said that. The blonde always had something new to show Jin. Jin was practically her nee-chan. Jin deserved to leave the Red Light, she would be a great shopkeeper! And she was the nicest person she knew. _"Naru, the nice people always have the worst look. So, if we do not so nice things, then we can get out of here sooner, no?"_

Naruko didn't understand the part about being bad. Sure, the took things, but that was it, right? Orochi-nii told her that one day she would understand. He started to teach her how to fight. _"Because you are a girl, it's harder to be stronger. But, when you know how to slip out of a grip, you can be as strong as anyone. Naruko-chan, please pay close attention."_

She always paid attention to her Orochi-nii. He was very flexible. He said that she would be too. He gave her an earring. It went on the cuff of her ear and was blue, like her eyes. She started to stretch better after that. _"You are already flexible, Naruko-chan. But we are going to make you the perfect shinobi, right?"_ He was always right. Sometimes he had Kabuto-kun fight her. Kabuto-kun was twelve. He always looked happy, but he felt sad.

She always made him happy by playing with his silver hair. It was really soft and pretty. If she was a good girl he would braid her hair! She loved the cabin in the woods.

When she turned six, Orochi-nii sent her into the village with Kabuto-kun. She wanted Orochi-nii to take her, but… _"I'm sorry, Naruko-chan. The villagers hate me even more than you. I can't go there."_ She din't know why they hated him, but if he wanted her to go she would. Kabuto-kun took her to a place called the Academy. He had to carry her to the village because it was a long way from the cabin.

The Academy taught people how to be ninja. She didn't need them because she had her Orochi-nii, but she would go anyways. _"I know it seems stupid, Naruko-chan, but there are people who expect you to be there."_ Naruko didn't know these _people_ either. The Academy was full of stupid people with stupid families. She tried to make friends with Sakura and Ino, two girls that looked okay. Sakura had exotic hair just like Jin! But they didn't like her, and said her clothes were weird.

She had gone home crying that day. _"Orochi-nii! I tried to be friends with two girls and they said my clothes were weird!"_ The next day Orochi-nii gave her new clothes. It was a black tank top and orange sweat pants. The girls still didn't like her. So she tried to make friends with the fat boy and pineapple hair.

 _"Hi! My name is Uzumaki Naruko!"_ The boys accepted her. They were friends now. _"Mah, so troublesome, Nara Shikamaru. This is Akimichi Chouji."_ Their parents didn't like her all too much at first. But she ate dinner with them just like Jin had taught her to, and they seemed to like her better.

Orochi-nii liked her friend choices. But they couldn't come over to the cabin or Jin's house. The Academy was really boring! It talked about history and taijutsu. But she already had a taijutsu, and she said as much when they tried to correct her. The Instructors had been laughing until she pummeled Ino into the ground.

Orochi-nii taught her how to knock things over with one finger. He couldn't do it, but he used to know someone named Tsunade who did. It was fun, and all she had to do was channel chakra to her fingers. But it was really hard to control her chakra. Orochi-nii gave her two rings to help.

At age seven, she started practicing the Leaf Exercise. She hated the Leaf Exercise. The leaf always shot up too far! She had a lot of chakra. _"Don't worry, Naruko-chan. You have a lot more chakra to try and control. Take this scroll."_ The scroll gave more exercises.

She started to spar with Shikamaru-kun at his house. He started using something called the Kage Mane or something. But he could control shadows, which was _really_ , _really_ cool! One time, he threw a kunai at her and she phased on accident. His dad looked interested! Chug also came over to spar. He was _super_ strong.

The Academy was getting more difficult. They made her sit down for longer and it was difficult to stay still. Kabuto-kun said she had ADHD, and that it was normal for her to fidget. Hokage-sama had come into the class one time, to see everybody. He looked surprised to see her, for some reason. _"How about we talk later, Naruko-chan?"_

She didn't like talking to the Hokage. He treated her like a little kid, and always called her chan! Only Orochi-nii and her friends could do that. He was very old and asked weird questions. _How have you been? Where are you living?_ She lied about where she lived. _Who do you live with?_ Jin. Which was a lie, because she lived with Orochi-nii. But Orochi-nii also said that the village hated him, and the Hokage _was_ the village. _Are you learning a lot in the Academy? Are the Instructors nice? Do you have any friends?_

Orochi-nii seemed concerned to hear that they had talked. But he shouldn't be, because she hadn't said a word about him. He looked proud afterwards, and ruffled her hair. _"You are a good girl, Naruko-chan! Here's a scroll."_ The scroll was a summoning contract. Orochi-nii had a snake summoning contract, but she got one all to herself!

It was a Scorpion Contract! Only one name was on there, and the person it belonged to was dead. She had to write her name with her blood, but the first one she summoned was the size of a small dog! Her name was Suga, and she had played with her before taking the contract.

The day she turned eight, Orochi-nii gave her another earring. Instead of the cuff, it was on her earlobe. It was gold. _"Naruko-chan…I have something to tell you."_ That was when she found out he experimented on humans, her too. What was so bad about that? She got stronger, and Kabuto-kun was strong too. He had laughed. _"Kukuku. Naruko-chan, I need to leave. People are beginning to suspect my presence. One day, we will meet again."_

She had cried her eyes out and ran to Jin. Jin hugged her tightly. She lived with her now. Kabuto-kun visited every once and a while. There was never any news about Orochi-nii, only that he never returned. She resented the man that had gave her so much. Maybe…was experimenting bad? She asked Kabuto-kun. _"You know, Naruko-chan…Orochimaru was not a good man. He helped you, but he hurt many more. It's hard to explain to someone your age, but…he is a very dangerous man. Konoha hates him for good reason."_

She hadn't seen much more of Kabuto after that. Maybe…maybe she was destined to be alone. But no, she still had Jin, and Shika-kun and Chouji-kun too! And Suga. After Orochimaru left, she kept Suga out a lot. It was nice to have a companion, and she understood Kiba and Akamaru. But Suga was too big for the Academy, so she called out a small one, the size of her palm, named Hera. She was nice too.

The Academy became progressively more difficult. Iruka-sensei taught them about the Sannin, Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya. Only then did she truly understand what Kabuto had said about the man who raised her. An emptiness filled her that day. She hadn't been very discreet either, because Shika and Chouji took her to a place called Ichiraku's.

That day, she fell in love with ramen.

At home, she had twisted the gold earring absently, and found a large scroll on her lap. _Dear Naruko-chan,_ it read. _Here are some jutsu I think you should learn. Become strong, my little fox._ His name was signed beneath the note. She summoned Suga so that she would hold onto the scroll. She would become strong without him, she decided. And if she ever needed that scroll, it would be on her terms. She didn't need him. She didn't need anyone. She pulled off all the jewelry Orochimaru had given her. She felt exactly the same...

The experiments...she was one of them! He had changed her somehow! There was nothing she could do now.

* * *

When she turned nine, a man named Danzō Shimura had approached her. She had become less exuberant, and both Shika and Chouji brought it upon themselves to make her happy, (but mostly Chouji. It was troublesome.) She had been sitting in a park, and saw a chess board. She wasn't much for the game, but Shika played it often.

She sat in silence, twirling a bishop in her fingers. Then she felt a chakra signature. It felt similar to Hokage-sama's…but different. He was elderly, and wore bandages around one eye. Maybe it was a battle scar. She twisted around to look at him fully. Nothing special. He smiled at her softly, and sat down at the chess board across from her.

"You play chess?" She nodded slowly, placing the bishop back in it's place. Every inch of her body was tensed in suspicion. "My name is Danzō Shimura. But you, my dear, are much more interesting." His left eyebrow raised as he looked over her. "Quite bright, I've heard…and with a Kekkei Genkai no less. What is your name?"

She straightened as her eyes narrowed, "I'm sure if you know all that you know my name." He chuckled, and sat a little straighter, mimicking her posture. "So what do you want? I'm nine, and I can't do much." At that he laughed more.

"Is that quite right, Naruko Uzumaki? As I've heard it, you were trained at a young age by… _Orochimaru_ of all people? Let's play." He moved one of the white pawns forwards two spaces. Her whole body had tensed.

"How do you know about that?" She practically bit the sentence out, instincts screaming to run. "It doesn't matter anyway, I hate him." He leaned back a little, gesturing towards the board. With a pointed glare, she moved one of her own pawns forwards.

He smiled lightly, "I'm not worried about you, Naruko. I run an organization called ROOT. We protect the Tree at all costs, even if that means sacrifice. The Hokage…" he chuckled softly, "The Hokage disagrees with my methods." One of her own eyebrows raised.

Her small frame began to tense as if she were to run away, "Then what makes you any better than Orochimaru?" Her small voice seemed determined. "You sound just like him. But at least he was nicer." He pushed the same pawn forwards one space. She moved another pawn.

His smile had completely disappeared, "I am nothing like him. He betrayed Konohagakure, and I am here to protect it." He moved one of his pawns again, capturing one of her own. "I am simply here to make an offer. Your move." One of her pawns captured the one he had just used.

"To win against me, you need to make sacrifices. That's what Shika always says to me." His bishop moved two spaces. She moved one of her pawns forwards again. Both locked eyes, and three different paths of the game occurred. "Check mate." With that she stalked off, not caring much for any offer.

"I can help you become stronger than you could ever imagine, Naruko. Together we can take him down. Orochimaru, that is." She whirled around, tiny hands clenching at her sides.

"I'm taking him down, by myself! Leave me alone you one-eyed creep!" She ran off to the Red Light District. She would be safer there. A new day at the Academy would begin soon. She just had to wait. Then she could get closer to becoming a Genin, one day at a time.

When she got home, Jin was Entertaining a man on the kitchen table. Naruko walked straight to her room. She needed the scroll from Suga. A bite on her thumb later and the dog-sized scorpion appeared. "Suga, I need the scroll."


End file.
